Gerry Mulligan Tribute @ Jazz Forum This Weekend!

Gerry Mulligan Tribute
Photo Credit: Carol Friedman
An all-star quintet of Gerry Mulligan alumni pay musical tribute to the late baritone saxophone master. Jazz Forum Arts was privileged to have presented the Gerry Mulligan Quartet twice in concert at the nearby Tarrytown Music Hall. This alumni quintet will feature Scott Robinson (sax), Marvin Stamm (trumpet, flugelhorn), Bill Mays (piano), Dean Johnson (bass) and Ron Vincent (drums).

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Liz Rosa Group
feat. Roni Ben-Hur
Liz began her musical career in 2002 at the age of sixteen, she was born in Natal and after establishing her presence in the northeast of Brazil, she moved to Rio de Janeiro in 2007 where she lived for 10 years and has captured the attention of listeners and critics worldwide with her interpretation of the classic Brazilian songbook.

In 2012 celebrating 10 years in the professional music field, Liz recorded her debut album “LIZ ROSA”. Liz’s influence of several Brazilian rhythms including baião and samba and American jazz work perfectly with the samba-jazz flavor presented throughout the album. The result transcends musical boundaries while still featuring a sophisticated, swinging Brazilian jazz atmosphere with lean and inspired arrangements by  Ricardo Silveira.

After establishing her presence in Brazil and Europe, Liz Rosa moved to New York City in 2017 to pursue the next levels of her musical development.

Liz has performed at many respected venues and festivals around the world such as the Blue Note Rio, Festival de Jazz de Punta del Este, Rigas Ritmi Festival, The Lyric Theatre (Toronto, Canada), Jazzahead (Bremen, Germany), Mezzrow (New York, USA) and at NYC’s Birdland. Liz has also performed with well-known Brazilian artists including João Bosco, João Donato and Roberto Menescal. Liz will collaborate with guitarist Roni Ben-Hur in a quartet setting at Jazz Forum.

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Judy Niemack Quartet
feat. Jim McNeely, Doug Weiss, Leon Parker
Born and raised in Pasadena, California, Judy gained her early experience singing in her church choir. She first heard Jazz through her mother’s Nancy Wilson records, and discovered that she could easily sing harmonies when she and her sister sang background vocals behind her brother, who played guitar and sang lead.

Judy studied classical singing and was encouraged to make it her focus, but the turning point in her young career was when she met the great tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh.

Starting in the late 1970s, Judy became a talented composer and a lyricist who wrote words to such pieces as Clifford Brown’s “Daahoud,” Thelonious Monk’s “Misterioso,” Bill Evans’ “Interplay,” Richie Powell’s “Time” and Duke Jordan’s “Jordu,” and songs by Lee Konitz, Pat Metheny, Dexter Gordon, Gigi Gryce, Kenny Dorham, Curtis Fuller, Bob Brookmeyer, Richie Beirach, Don Grolnick, Steve Slagle, Mike Stern, Johnny Griffin and many others. One of the driving forces behind her writing is the desire to have lyrics that are more modern and relevant than many that are part of the famous but overly familiar songs of the 1930s and ‘40s. Judy Niemack will visit from her home in Germany to perform at the Jazz Forum with Jim McNeely, piano, Doug Weiss, bass and Leon Parker, drums.

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Louis Hayes Quartet
Louis Hayes is considered by many as one of the chief architects of modern jazz drumming. After developing his skills in the fertile musical ground of Detroit in the 1950’s, Louis found himself, at age18, in New York as a member of the great Horace Silver Quintet. His first recording with Horace, the classic Six Pieces Of Silver would introduce him to the Jazz world. Since then, his career led him to join several of the greatest jazz players, including Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, Harold Mabern and Frank Strozier, John Coltrane, & Thelonious Monk. His current endeavor is a project entitled “Serenade for Horace” which is a tribute to his friend and mentor, Horace Silver, and is Louis Hayes’s debut as a leader on Blue Note Records. Louis Hayes Quartet will feature Abraham Burton, sax, David Bryant, piano and Dezron Douglas, bass.

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Laura Dreyer Quartet
Saxophonist, woodwind artist, and composer Laura Dreyer is a vibrant, creative voice in the New York Jazz scene. Her catchy original compositions combine lyrical melodies with Jazz and Brazilian rhythms, resulting in an exciting, contemporary palette of sound with a strong rhythmic twist. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Laura has performed with noted musicians including Dom Salvador,  Antonio Adolfo, Marcos Silva, Dr. Billy Taylor, Walter Bishop Jr., Mel Lewis, Robert Palmer, Nnenna Freelon, Lea Delaria,  Leny Andrade, Portinho, and Helcio Milito. Laura Dreyer Quartet will feature Klaus Mueller, piano, Itaiguara Brandao, bass and Graciliano Zambonin, drums.

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Alan Broadbent Trio
feat. Harvie S and Billy Mintz
Alan Broadbent was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and by the age of 19, received a Downbeat Magazine scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1969 he was asked to join Woody Herman’s band as his pianist and arranger, an association that lasted for 3 years. In 1972 he settled in Los Angeles and was soon invited into the studio scene as a pianist for the great Nelson Riddle, and also worked with David Rose and Johnny Mandel. Later, Broadbent became a member of Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, touring the festivals of Europe, the UK and the USA. It was while with this group that he won his second Grammy, an orchestral accompaniment written for Shirley Horn of Leonard Bernstein’s “Lonely Town”. As a soloist and with his jazz trio, Broadbent has been nominated for Grammys twice for best instrumental performance. In 2007 he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, an honor he holds in high regard. It has been his lifelong goal, through his orchestral arrangements and jazz improvisations, to discover, in popular music and standard songs, deeper feelings of communication and love.

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Ravi Coltrane Quartet
Ravi Coltrane is a critically acclaimed Grammy™ nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. In the course of a twenty-plus year career, Mr. Coltrane has worked as a sideman to many, recorded noteworthy albums for himself and others and founded a prominent independent record label, RKM.

His mother, Alice Coltrane, was a significant influence on Ravi and it was he who encouraged Alice to return to performance and the recording studio after a long absence. Subsequently, Ravi produced and played on Alice Coltrane’s powerful, ‘Translinear Light’, which was released in 2004.

Ravi has released six albums as a leader. His latest, ‘Spirit Fiction’, was released in June of 2012 for the Blue Note label. Additional credits include performances as well as recordings with Elvin Jones, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Barron, Steve Coleman, McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, Matt Garrison, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Geri Allen, Joanne Brackeem, and The Blue Note 7, among others. He is a co-leader of the Saxophone Summit with Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman.

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Ana Fernandez Quartet
Ana Fernandez has been singing since she was 9 years old, when she won a competition in a TV show. Since then, she has been working with acclaimed musicians such as Itaiguara Brandao, Cidinho Teixeira, Salgadinho, DuDu Nobre and others. She performs a wide range of Brazilian music; Samba, Choro, Forro, Bossa Nova, MPB, etc. People call her Brazilian Tina Turner also Spanish people call her Brazilian Celia Cruz.

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Jay Leonhart Trio
Jay Leonhart has been recognized as a very accomplished bass player for a long time now. He has been named the Outstanding Bassist In the Recording Industry three times and is always mentioned when the discussion turns to the outstanding. At age 13, while playing banjo with his brother in a dixieland band in Baltimore, Jay watched and listened to the bass player and knew that the bass was the instrument he would play forever.
Since that time Jay has been privileged to play with Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Buddy Rich, Jim Hall, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Marian McPartland, Kenny Barron, Sting, James Taylor, Papa Jo Jones, Roy Eldridge, Louie Bellson, Dick Hyman, Luciano Pavoratti, and many more.
Over the years, Jay Leonhart has been writing and singing his own very individualistic songs about his life as a bass player. He now performs his music worldwide to very receptive audiences, appearing primarily with his trio, which plays regularly at Birdland in New York, when not gainfully employed elsewhere.

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